Little Secrets
by purplebird76
Summary: Set after Yoshiwara in Flames Arc. With a recent Harusame sighting in Yoshiwara and the Yorozuya injured, Sougo can't help but wonder if they are somehow connected. What else for him to do but investigate.
1. Chapter 1

-after Yoshiwara in flames arc-

It was almost 4am, Kagura couldn't sleep and kept getting lost in thought. She was thinking about her brother, how he's changed, and her old life. At any rate she was making herself depressed.

She could really stand for some fresh air. Kagura removed herself from the closet as quietly as she could, so that she wouldn't wake up Gin-chan. After his fight with Hosen, he really needed rest.

Her arm hadn't healed yet so she didn't bother changing clothes. (Yato healing abilities are amazing but they work best when you have a surplus of food to fuel the healing process. In her case it would probably take 5-7 days.) She slipped out the door and into the cool night.

Kagura headed to the park. She sat in the grass up against a tree and stared up at the stars.

She sat in a daze, trying to imagine all of the things that _could_ have happened. The good, the bad. What if Kamui brought her with instead of leaving her? What if he hadn't gone? What if Kamui never existed? What if Gintoki never let her join the Yorozuya? What if she never met Gintoki in the first place?

She went over countless simulations in her head. Soon she heard a voice.

"China, its 5:30 in the morning. What the hell are you doing?"

"Huh? Sadist? What are you doing up?"

"Since the Harusame was spotted in Yoshiwara, we have been forced to start our patrols earlier. Now what are you doing laying in the park in your pajamas at 5 am?", he asked while sitting down next to her.

"I couldn't sleep and came to clear my head. I didn't realize that so much time has passed though. Why are you sitting too?"

"It is 5 when we usually start at 7, I'm tired. I don't see the point in patrolling; they have probably left already anyway."

"Well duh. He's not that stupid."

"He?"

"Forget I said that. Anything you want to do? I don't really want to fight right now."

_"What are you talking about? We don't always fight."

"Yes we do, like all the time."

"Oh really? I thought we were playing. Does that mean you've been fighting me seriously all these years? I honestly couldn't tell."

"You fucking bastard!" On impulse she throws a punch but pain shoots through her arm making her visibly wince and pull back.

"That's new, what happened to your arm?" he asked while shooting her a concerned glance.

"I-umm picked a fight with someone I shouldn't have." seeing the worry on his face she quickly says, "I won though!"

"If someone's able to get you that injured, it makes me wonder who it is."

"It doesn't matter anymore. They all left. We made it out. It is all over now." she says with a slightly annoyed tone, her eyes struggling to stay open.

"China, you need sleep, and it is almost sunrise. Let me bring you home."

She nodded slowly and stumbled as she tried to get up.

He grabbed her good arm before she fell and said, "I don't need to carry you home do I?"

"N-no, I'm ok."

They walked to the Yorozuya in silence. As they neared the door, she says, "Please be as quiet as possible. Gin-chan's injuries are way worse than mine. Please don't wake him."

Feeling a bit unsettled that she would go as far as to say 'please' to him, he took care to open the door as silently as he could. "Where do you sleep at? Do you need any help?" he whispered.

"I sleep in the closet."

Sougo looked rather dumbfounded as he saw her struggling to lift herself into the closet.

He lifted her up by her waist into the small space. It almost went unheard, but he made out a small "Thanks" as she closed the door.

He gave a small, genuine smile as he whispered "Good night". He went to leave when he remembered what she said about Gintoki.

"How much worse?" thought Sougo.

Soon he found himself in front of the door to Gintoki's room. He slowly opened the door and peered inside.

Gintoki was still asleep, but this was the worse Sougo's ever seen him. He was covered with gauze, blood soaking through in places. There were reddish tints in his hair, showing how they tried to wash the blood out but didn't do a great job at it. Gintoki had a pained expression and a small pink, rabbit print bandage on his cheek.

Sougo quietly shut the door and left as soon as he could.

"How the hell did he get that injured?! She is definitely keeping something from me. Considering our conversation earlier, it probably has something to do with the Harusame. If it does have something to do with them, I would both be able to get a raise and help if something else happens in the future. Sorry China, but you won't be able to keep it from me for long. ", he thinks while heading back to Headquarters.


	2. Chapter 2

"Now where am I supposed to start with this…" he wonders, "I got an interesting bit of information but there is no point if I don't have proof to back it up. Wait a sec, didn't something similar happen a little while ago?"

Soon Sougo found himself flipping through report folders, each labeled with their respective episode and chapter numbers, "No, no, no, no, oh yeah, I forgot we had to catch a panty thief."

Sighing to himself, he lifts the next folder off the stack and opens it.

"Katsura Kotaro and Takasugi Shinsuke fought a large scale battle that produced casualties on both sides… Over 50 dead and more are missing….. Nizo the Butcher's whereabouts are unknown….Both factions are expected to be out of action for a while…" Sougo's eyes widened as he read the words, "Reported sighting of a 'ridiculously strong silver-haired samurai and two strange kids'. Vice Captain Hijikata Toushirou instructed inspector Yamazaki Sagaru to investigate the local Yorozuya to see if they held any relation to the case. Yamazaki reported that the Yorozuya were not a threat and quote " _Regarding Joui activities, I don't think he (Sakata Gintoki) concerns himself with such complicated things. That man, only wants to see a smile on that girl's face"_

" _That girl? Does he mean China? What is he talking about? Wait, no, I'm getting off track. Yamazaki was put on the investigation, I'm sure he has more information than he is letting on~"_

At the thought of a lead he starts to giggle, and the horrific sounds make everyone in the library evacuate.

-the next day-

Yamazaki was walking down the hall towards the cafeteria when Okita Sougo decided to attack.

"Ya-ma-za-ki-kun~" He called before grabbing Yamazaki's shoulder. Poor Yamazaki flinched at the sound of his voice and warily turned his head to look at his superior.

"I found some interesting photos in your room the other day. Tell me, Yamazaki, why is it that so many of the Shinsengumi are prone to stalking women?"

Yamazaki almost screamed but quickly used his hand to clamp his mouth shut.

"W-why do you have those..?" he asks, legs trembling beneath him.

"Say, Yamazaki, what would happen if the superiors discovered that you were using precious government resources to take illegal photos of a female?"

"Why are you doing this?" the poor guy starts to tear up, "I haven't done anything wrong towards you."

"I need you to do me a favor. There is a certain person I need you to investigate. And it is of the utmost degree of importance that no one should find out about it." Sougo grabs both of Yamazaki's shoulders and forces him still. "Do you understand?"

Yamazaki slowly nods his head.

"Good. I need background information on Chi- I mean Kagura, the girl who lives with the Yorozuya."

"I understand, I'll get started right away."

Sougo slowly lets go of his shoulders and begins to walk away.

"One more thing. Just so you can fully understand how important this is I believe I should tell you something. I found something else in your room with the pictures."

"OH NO" Yamazaki felt a mixed wave of terror and shame wash over him.

Slowly, Sougo pulls a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. With a smile on his face he holds the paper up for him to see.

"You're a very good artist. If by some strange reason you get fired, you should be a mangaka*." he says with a snicker.

The paper had a badly drawn moe girl on it. To be more specific it was Tama on all fours with cat ears and a tail; she was smiling brightly and her maid outfit was frillier than usual. "Nyaaa~" she calls, a small fang peaking out behind her pink lips.

At this Yamazaki flushes and bolts down the corridor to the cafeteria.

"What's wrong Yamazaki? Are you sick?" calls one of the men eating lunch.

"It happened. It finally happened."

"Spit it out, you're not making sense." calls a different Shinsengumi member.

"Okita just asked me to investigate Kagura-chan."

The cafeteria was in uproar. People were laughing, sighing, and cheering. He swore he spotted people exchanging money. "Were they making bets?"He thought to himself.

Hello again! Sorry I haven't updated in quite a bit, school has not liked me recently.

Note- mangaka=person who writes/draws manga for a living


	3. Chapter 3

Warning- written at 3 in the morning, will probably make edits later

And so, Yamazaki stands once more in front of the cursed Yorozuya.

To say he was wary of the place was an understatement. Last time he was instructed to investigate these people, it was utter chaos. He was almost impaled repeatedly, nearly fell into a pit of spikes, and had just barely escaped when they unleashed their death laser. To be fair, a lot of the near-death situations he was forced to encounter was the result of a certain gorilla, so he is not allowed to blame the Yorozuya members exclusively.

But just to be on the safe side, he would rather not try to sneak in.

"There is another way to gather information about a subject: ask the people close to them. Hmm...Let's see here. Sakata-san would bypass all of my questions and he would probably waste my time without letting me get any actual info. I can't ask Kagura-chan, she might kill me. As such, the answer is Shinpachi-kun,"

Fortunately, while he was having his internal monologue, Shinpachi was coming back with what looked like groceries.

"Ah, hello Yamazaki-san. Um..do you need something? You are just staring at the Yorozuya."

"Shinpachi-kun! Great timing, I need to ask you a few things."

"Sure but let me run this food up to Gin-san and Kagura-chan first."

Yamazaki nods, happy that his job is progressing smoothly.

"Would it work for me to come up too? Then we could talk inside."

Shinpachi flinched before hurriedly saying, "No, I don't think that would be the best idea. Gin-san has been really sick recently and it would be bad if we encouraged him to get out of bed."

"Oh, I see. I hope he gets better soon."

Shinpachi sounds almost grim as he replies, "Me too."

He walks inside quietly, hand gripped tightly around the bag of rice, veggies, and warm home-made stew.

Well that was an odd reaction, even for Shinpachi. Something has definitely happened. I can only imagine how Kagura acted to make our cold-hearted captain worried enough to ask me for a favor. Oh goodness, what am I getting myself into…

Soon Shinpachi opened the door and slipped out. He seemed less grim than before, and wore a small smile.

"Yamazaki-san, can we go to a family diner instead?"

"Yeah, that is fine. May I ask why you seem happier than before? Is Sakata-san's condition improving?"

A bit startled he says, "No, that's not it. He is improving slowly but that's not why. Kagura-chan gave the majority of her food to Gin-san. She never shares. Ever. I just thought it was really sweet of her. So I was thinking that I should order her something special from the diner and bring it back for her. She's trying to help but she needs to eat more than we do. She really shouldn't be giving away food. Was that one of the questions?"

"No, but they are of a similar subject."

~later at the diner ~

"Do you know of anything that might have happened to Kagura-chan lately to make her act differently?"

"What exactly are you going to do with this information?"

"Shinpachi-kun, from what I can tell someone I know met with her recently and is worried about her but isn't in a position to ask questions."

"Ok, can I know who this 'someone' is?"

"I am not permitted to disclose that information"

"I'll answer your questions but since I only have a rough idea of who is getting the information don't expect it to be super detailed."

"Sure, I can work with that."

Yamazaki pulls out a notepad and prepares to write.

"If she's acting strange it is could be a couple of things. First, as you already know, Gin-san is ill. I can't tell you how ill or the symptoms but there is a good chance she is just worried about him.

"Second, she probably won't appreciate me saying this but she met her older brother recently. She avoids the topic like the plague but from what I saw they used to be on good terms but aren't anymore. It is definitely possible that meeting him again after so many years has stirred up old memories. There is a third possible reason but it is kind of personal and could probably be grouped together with the brother thing so I won't say. Is that enough info?"

"Yeah, that's enough. Thanks a lot Shinpachi-kun."

Yamazaki, giddy with the amount of information gathered from such a small time period, rises up from his seat and pays for both their meals.

"I hope this is enough to appease Okita-san", he thinks as he begins heading back to the Shinsengumi.

Welp, third chapter over. If you guys find any errors such as spelling errors or with how they refer to each other, please send me a message or comment and I'll fix it. Also, can anyone guess what the third reason is?


End file.
